(Emirates News Agency (WAM) (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dubai, 13th July 2014 (WAM) - Connecting with Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has been made easy with the DFM smart phone application, which effectively provides investors with a comprehensive one-stop-shop by placing various services in the palm of their hands.

Investors and market participants are increasingly downloading and using DFM's Smart Phone Application, available for both iOS and Android, with more than 18,000 downloads over the past 8 months since the soft launch of the application during Gitex 2013. The application attracted 112,00 users on Apple's operating system, compared to 6,849 users on Android, with 86.5% of them U.A.E.-based followed by users in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Oman.

The application has further strengthened DFM's leading position at the forefront of regional exchanges providing smart services through various innovative tools that better serve the requirements of market participants. Through the application, DFM investors can track trading activity of listed companies, the DFM General Index, and company disclosures as well as market news. Users can also set up price change alerts and customize the 'market watch' page as they choose.

The growing popularity of the application reflects the trend amongst DFM investors towards electronic trading which currently represents one third of trading activity on average, owing to the availability of various channels to trade on the market whether through computers or smart phones utilizing applications of DFM-licensed brokerage firms. It is noteworthy that DFM also provides investors at the trading floor with free Wi-Fi enabling them to instantly track market activity in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for a smart city and the importance of providing speedy and effective Wi-Fi coverage throughout the emirate.

Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM, said: "Since its inception, DFM has always been committed to provide smart, innovative and technologically advanced services and make these services available through smart gadgets in line with the government's various initiatives, including making our services available through smart phone applications. Statistics show that the U.A.E. has one of the highest smart phone penetration rates globally at 74% in addition to the high number of smart phone users compared to internet users through house or office networks."
''With smart phones in the palm of the hand it is now much easier to for investors to swiftly track market activity and it also encourages them to explore new areas of usage as well as offering service providers effective and flexible tools to proactively connect with customers rather than waiting for them to approach these entities, and this is the key pillar of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the U.A.E. and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a smart city with every single service available through the phone and Wi-Fi coverage available for its residents. Undoubtedly, we are seeing growing investor recognition of the importance of smart phones to stay connected with the market which gives them additional advantages over investors who depend only on traditional methods. Smart phone users can feel safe by closely keeping their eye on the market, track their investments and immediately seize buy or sell opportunities wherever they are, even during their vacations.''
''We have provided the DFM application with various versions to adapt to operating systems such as iOS, Android and Blackberry and we will continue developing and updating these applications periodically to ensure their compatibility with the most popular operating systems," Kazim added.